White House says Israel should protect Gaza civilians despite Hamas using them as human shields

White House says Israel should protect Gaza civilians despite Hamas using them as human shields

Israel should take responsibility for protecting innocent civilians in Gaza even though Hamas is using them as human shields, Biden administration national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday, as Israeli forces continue to bombard the Gaza Strip following the deadly terrorist attack more than three weeks ago.

Sullivan appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," saying the Israeli government should take every possible action to distinguish terrorists from civilians during its ongoing operations.

"Hamas is making life extremely difficult for Israel by taking civilians as human shields and putting their rocket infrastructure and terrorist infrastructure among civilians," Sullivan said. "That creates an added burden for Israel, but it does not lessen Israel’s responsibility under international humanitarian law to distinguish between terrorist and civilians and protect lives of innocent people."

Sullivan added: "And that is the overwhelming majority of the people in Gaza."

While Sullivan said President Biden will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Sunday about protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza, he added that the U.S. has already been holding conversations behind closed doors about protecting civilians.